Defense seeks to toss medical testimony in Middletown bar-fight death

GOSHEN — A manslaughter defendant's lawyer has asked a judge to bar a medical examiner from testifying at his trial in Orange County Court,

BY HEATHER YAKIN

GOSHEN — A manslaughter defendant's lawyer has asked a judge to bar a medical examiner from testifying at his trial in Orange County Court.

The defendant, Kevin Conklin, 24, of the Town of Wallkill, is awaiting trial on charges of first- and second-degree manslaughter and misdemeanor assault in the Nov. 10 death of Allan Cardona, 46, of Middletown outside G's Westgate, a bar on West Main Street in Middletown.

Prosecutors maintain that Conklin attacked Cardona outside the bar, punching him and then kicking him, causing head trauma that triggered a heart attack. The cause of death is given on the autopsy report as "cardiac arrest due to blunt impact to head with multiple scalp contusions."

On Monday, Conklin's lawyer, Gary Greenwald, filed papers with Orange County Court Judge Jeffrey Berry, asking that the judge bar any testimony about cause of death by the forensic pathologist who performed Cardona's autopsy. Greenwald argued that Dr. Gerard Catanese, an associate medical examiner for the Orange County Medical Examiner's Office, found significant evidence of heart disease, but no evidence of serious trauma.

"The defense believes that since this man (Cardona) had such an atrocious heart condition, which Dr. Catanese found, that there was no way medically you could tell he did not have a heart attack when he threw his first punch," Greenwald said.

Senior Assistant District Attorney Maryellen Albanese said she'll file her response to Greenwald's request by Aug. 12. "We will definitely be opposing it," she said.

According to court papers, prosecutors have witnesses who reported seeing Conklin kicking Cardona while the older man was on the ground. The autopsy showed large bruises on Cardona's face and head, but no broken bones.

Greenwald filed a sworn statement from forensic pathologist Dr. Charles Wetli. Wetli said that in his opinion, "it is more likely than not that Mr. Cardona died as a result of a cardiac event and not a traumatic head injury."

Greenwald said Catanese is unable to say for certain whether Cardona died from physical exertion or of cardiac-related causes rather than trauma.